MrsTocko

Hi. we are booked on POA in November, and I am looking to find out the earliest time in the embarkation window for POA. I found a great deal on transportation/transfer, and i want to book it. Not sure how flexible they are on modifying pick up times after reservation is created TIA

We sailed out of Port Pavillion (the “ new” terminal) in April 2022 and out of B Street in April 2023. Port pavillion had it dialed in. Was amazing. B Street was a nightmare. I understand that it is port agents and workers, and not necessarily employees of the cruise line. But there should be standardized training for all. Such an amazingly different experience. We will continue to go out of San Diego when the itinerary suits as it is the home port, but have some work to do. I see why cruise lines would not want to home port out of San Diego, because they are blamed for issues, rather than the port authority.

It’s actually either a seating area, for maybe 5 people or where that have a larger scale ship model. My in-laws were in 14758, while we were in 14158, but we still had no noise issues. DH is a fairly light sleeper and has never had noise complaints. This is in our general preferred location, on all ships. We did find the aft elevators less busy/ crowded then these right by the room. I would book this room again.

I have booked our pre cruise hotel for our POA Thanksgiving 2024 cruise. I booked at the Equus. Haven’t really seen much if anything regarding this hotel. We get that we are going to have to figure out a few transportation logistics (well, I will). Given the time of year we are going, and the location I think I got a pretty good rate (approx 150-175 per night). Hotel looks decent. Doesn’t look like I will be afraid to walk barefoot on the carpet, or other safety concerns. Im a responsible adult, that pays attention to my surroundings. We are only there for 2 nights, so we can put up with a lot if we need to. does anyone have any direct experience at the equus? I would rather spend money on the cruise and experiences than the hotel. It is prepaid, but refundable, if I am making a horrible mistake, I will try to find something else. We typically are a Hilton garden inn/towneplace by marriott - middle of the road type hotel.

What is Vesna’s last name? Do you have that?

When I did it the first time, and had no idea what I was doing, had never been to one and 1st time on ncl, it was magical, the perks. DH, loved it. I tell him every time that those little things are not guaranteed. And we haven’t always gotten them, depends on the ship and concierge. We get a lot of those perks now with latitude status, but our favorite perk is being allowed to join the suite and above passengers for breakfast and lunch. Especially breakfast. We are usually the first ones there. Whether we get perks or not I will continue to offer to organize them. I like doing that kind of thing. It is not much work, gives an opportunity for us to meet each other after “chatting” online for weeks or more. but if I am not the one to do it, I’m ok. As long as one is done. But you know “dibs” 🤪

I had it at the Red Dog in Juneau…and was delicious…wondering if you can taste the difference between mahoneys and baileys? I’m not a expert so I’m sure I would be happy with the mahoneys.

I’m just wondering if I can get that as part of the regular package or if it is a premium + drink?

½ ounce (15 milliliters) Kahlua ½ ounce (15 milliliters) Bailey's Irish Cream ½ ounce (15 milliliters) Crown Royal

Absolutely - Communication…I think for mine, the other person may have cancelled, and then never told NCL. So assuming that ncl investigated a little or contacted the other person and confirmed it. I usually start with a guesstimate of 25 then confirm a real number later. If someone else beats me to the punch so to speak, fine, it’s just knowing it, I do a few other things for the ones that I organize, that includes a little thank you to those attending, and for any of the officers/staff that interact with. I’m also happy to share any of the organizing with other people (gift exchange, poker crawl, slot pull…whatever). I scaled back, what I was willing to do, because I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I wanted to. glad you had a place to vent, and sometimes that is all we need to do. I’m hoping that it gets corrected for you.

I do several different types. I will have the unofficial at the sail away. People inevitably get busy and forget the official one. I will also do the pub crawl. Just a couple extra opportunities to meet up. I don’t care if you drink or not. with regard to the specific situation that prompted my thread. I talked to the coordinator that day, and while she couldn’t tell me, she knew who it was. A few days after I posted, I got a call from her that I was the new leader. She recommended to send the request in as soon as you book. Especially if you are an early booker. Each special events person handles multiple ships. Jackie took care of me. And when I was waiting to confirm for my cruise this April, (we had time and location shift due to itinerary change) I spoke with Jackie again, and she looked at all my cruises, and told me which ones I hadn’t even sent the request in on yet. So I sent the request in, went to a different coordinator, and too early to request.

We were on for the championship game in April. They showed it in a couple places. But yeah, that’s what we get soccer, cricket, tennis. No baseball, football, basketball, or nascar.

Would they notice if one went missing? Even if they did notice, how would they KNOW who, until too late?

Well dang!

Got it. The Encore is a sister ship to the Bliss, (have been on bliss, but not encore) both were built with cruising Alaska in mind. They tried to optimize public viewing (space and window), and did a very good job. There is room for all to see. Truly. We do a balcony, and the glacier day we actually will spend it on our balcony. A ranger is brought on board that they will broadcast through your cabin tv on the ship channel. (DH always sets us up, so I don’t know which channel). I go get us drinks/snacks, and we enjoy the day. the encore will have Spice H2O. This is an adults only outdoor area with a dedicated bar, hot tubs…no one under 18 allowed. we preferred dinning in taste or savor. Encore will have 3 MDR, Taste and Savor being 2 of them. (Imagine they split azure on the jewel in half) They are bit more casually dressed and a bit smaller than the remaining one. Usually never a wait, and there is a bar between them if there is. The local (updated O’sheehans) is your pub food. There is also the district Brewhouse. No food, but a great bar/pub space. I have to admit that we don’t have direct knowledge of the specialty dining on this class of ship. We have done them on the smaller ships and I can’t imagine they are all that different. Cagney is our favorite. We love a good steak. We also like teppanyaki, and Moderna (Brazilian). We d like simple hearty food, so the frou frou places are often lost on us. In addition, I have a shellfish allergy, so I pay attention. If you like seafood, I hear OceanBlue is fantastic. we love the melting cake, you have a 50/50 shot on it actually being melting. But delicious anyway. I have never left hungry, so we are not unhappy with the food. We may get something we don’t like, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Just not for us. the ships size and layout, will most like being smaller than what you are used to, with a passenger capacity of around 4200, but that is the most we like. There are no forward elevators, so if you are relying on them, use the aft elevators, as the midship ones are always busy. we are making out second journey on the Bliss in 2025, so I’m looking forward to revisiting many of these. Hope this helps.

Try a glacier blue in o’sheehans. It is our favorite

What made you decide to do NCL? What do you love about RCL? What parts make you nervous?

We wear Merrill waterproof. I like mid, DH likes low. Our feet stay dry when everything else is soaked. And their customer service is stellar

@Saint Greg we love the jewel and that size ship. We were on her in April of this year. We had a few stars of the crew. The day bartender at the great outdoors (I wanna say Evangeline), she works maltings (deck 6) in the evening. She’s amazing. Also Elaiza (odd spelling) but she is a restaurant hostess. In April she was at La cucina. We had her in April 2022 on the Jewel. Walking across the Lobby THIS year on the 2nd day, I hear a “Ma’am Gail, Mr. Chris”. Had not seen her in a year and she remembered us. We prepay our gratuities, and if we have good pleasant experiences, we give small additional tips in cash at the end. Our room steward, we give a small one at the beginning of the cruise, and then a larger thank you tip at the end. we too came from carnival. And love NCL. I’m an equal opportunity cruiser, but DH wants to stick with NCL. Neither of us are up to the crowds and ship size of Royal Caribbean yet. Every line and ship has their good and bad points, including NCL. loving the review, as it makes me miss the ship and Alaska. I have often thought that I need to do a review, I just don’t have the gift of writing a witty, entertaining review, thank you for yours.

@ctlyf, @MississippiMom i totally get the thoughts on Alaska. There is a raw, uninhibited beauty to the surrounding that I haven’t found elsewhere. I am from MN (have had that cold) and now live in Southern California, so tons of beach…(I hate the sand though…) I’m glad I still go to the Caribbean, and Mexico though for the history and culture of the place. You will never have to compete with me on those beach day excursions. Alaskan cruises offer a peacefulness to them. I have found a lazy, calmness to it. You won’t regret trying it at least once.

The first cruise was too late, missed the last day and half of cruise. I didnt have anything with me, and the store was out of stock. before the next cruise, I got dramaine, and sea bands. also move a BIT (not much though) midship, and changed from deck 4 to deck 6...still a few bouts of nausa, but didnt actually get sick. The next one, again, moved more midship, and not as bad....all still an inside cabin though Finally moved to a balcony in 2013, right off the midship elevators. havent even put the sea bands on, and not taken any meds in the last 4 cruises, and have been fine. I pick a deck that keeps a passenger deck above and below me.(so usually deck 9-14/15) and as midship as i can get, so this will be interesting for sure. Aft Balcony, in Alaska, will offer beautiful views. Have had rough seas on past alaska crusies, at times, but have been early and late in the season, so hoping being more mid season will be helpful as well. I believe we are deck 10, next to the corner cabins. We wanted to to try it and figured this was probably the best cruise to try it on, as it is a very chill moving cruise, between ports.

We ended up treating ourselves to an aft balcony (1st time) for our Alaskan on the Bliss in 2025. (Nominal cost difference to upgrade from regular midship balcony) I have gotten seasick in the past, (1st cruise, we were far forward, ocean view, bottom passenger deck) so I started changing my cabin location, and have been good the last few. So we have been apprehensive about moving to an aft balcony. But we decided to take the risk. We can’t predict the seas or weather this far out, but should be ok.

Ok - not in the haven, and as a general rule, we save our $ for excursions. And have never spent much time hanging at the pool. On our spring break cruise in April this year, the ratio of kids to pool/hot tub was ridiculous, and we are interested in the lack of kids running around in the area. Nothing against kids, just looking for the peace. On the Star last year, we really enjoyed spice H20. The bar, the quiet, everything. DH will like that it is at the end of the buffet, for quick snack runs. I don’t think we must have a reserved cabana. I don’t really want to pay even more for it. How would I reserve it if I changed my mind? (I’m thinking for future cruises, though I don’t think POA has vibe, and I know Bliss has Spice H20) If I wanted to, would they apply my 2 purchased passes to the cost and I pay the difference? Or does it not matter because Prima doesn’t have cabanas?

Hi all - I just bought vibe beach club passes for our upcoming Prima cruise in March 2024. Have done some research, but still have some questions based on what I have read here on CC. what I understand: adults only area with a dedicated bar, fruit skewers, cold towels, padded loungers, some cabanas, close to the buffet, limited availability, and even though it may be sold out, I’m thinking the concierge has a handful to “work their magic” to accommodate haven guests when needed. Most likely plenty of seating to accommodate the number of passes sold. what I am wondering: are the cabanas assigned? Is that an additional charge? Will I have the same cabana all week? How do I know which one os mine? How do they know who has bought the passes? I mean, could I have saved the money and just gone, because no one checks? How is it enforced? we really only took advantage of spice h20 for the first time last year. So I’m guessing it is along the same lines, just with paid access thank you in advance. While I may be a vibe newbie, I don’t want to look like one…

Have done it once, so far, in 2022, ant the height of the travel issues. Absolutely no complaints. I gave the day I wanted to land as my deviation. So we cruised on July 3. I know that it takes roughly 24 hours (with time zone differences) to go from LAX (starting point) to London. Requested to land on July 1. We had a direct red eye (totally fine with that - planned to sleep on the plane) on June 30, Landing July 1. Paid to upgrade our seats together into an exit row. our return from Reykjavik we requested 2 nights in Reykjavik, post cruise. Only switched one seat to have us sit together. Total airfare cost with upgrade was 400 each, rt to Europe. No way could I do better on my own. my next 3 cruises are closed loop cruises. I am checking airfare for the first one. But so far I can’t get better than 500 for 2 round trip. Again, asked to land 2 days before on the first one (Caribbean out of Galveston) and 1 day before on the other 2 (Hawaii on POA, and Alaska out of Seattle. Have been to Seattle 2 times before, so we are good to do whatever strikes us). If I can get (for example) 1st class airfare, for the 2 of us for the same $ or a little more, I will book myself. We do get travel insurance. My decision making process of how many days is based on where we are going, when (could weather be a factor in layovers or flight delays), time zones, how long it will take to get there. I also do my own researching of possible flights, to give me an idea. We always have at least one night before in the hotel. Even the 2 times we have left out of home port (20 minutes from home) we go to a hotel the night before right near the port.